WDVA Briefing

1. WDVA Briefing July 2017

2. VBA Beneficiaries Served & Dollars Paid in FY2016 • Education • Paid nearly $74B in Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to over 1.74M individuals to date since program inception in 2009 • Processed 4M claims, 50% with automation • Compensation • Paid $74B to 4.66M beneficiaries • Completed 1.3M claims & 5.76Missues – met & maintaining goal to complete claims in average of 125 days • Life Insurance • Provides over $1.2T in coverage for service members, Veterans and families • Paid $2B to insure 6.1M lives, including 114.5K death claim payments • Home Loan Guaranty • Over 2.75M VA home loans on the books • Guaranteed a record 705K loans in FY16 (12% more than FY15) totaling $179B • Helped a record 97K Veterans avoid foreclosure in FY16 (7% more than FY15) • Approved a record1,914 Specially Adapted Housing grants exceeding $100M in FY16 (6% more than FY15) • Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment • Over 14K Veterans achieved positive outcomes in VR&E program in FY16 – 6.5% more than FY15 • VR&E participants grew 3.1% from FY15 to more than 135Kin FY16 • “ To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” • Benefits Assistance • Over 6M registered eBenefits users – 1M more than FY15 • Provided 14K VA Benefits briefings to estimated 378K transitioning Servicemembers& family through the Transition Assistance Program • Pension & Fiduciary • Paid $5.45B in Pension benefits to nearly 500K beneficiaries in FY16 • Served 198K Fiduciary beneficiaries in FY16 – 8% more than FY15

3. The Secretary’s 5 Priorities • Greater Choice for Veterans • Redesign the 40/30 Rule • Build a High Performing Integrated Network of Care • Empower Veterans through transparency of information • Modernize our System • Infrastructure Improvements and Streamlining • EMR Interoperability and IT Modernization • Focus Resources More Efficiently • Strengthening of Foundational Services in VA • VA/DOD/Community Coordination • Deliver on Accountability and Effective Management Practices • Improve Timeliness of Services • Access to Care and Wait Times • Decisions on Appeals • Performance on Disability Claims • Suicide Prevention • Getting to Zero

4. Where We’re Going:VBA Priorities 2017 & Beyond DIGITIZATION and AUTOMATION • Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) • National Work Queue • Centralized Intake of Claims Material • Auto-Establishment of Claims • Paper Extraction & Digitization of Inactive Claim Files • Decision Ready Claims EFFICIENCY and SERVICE • Update Performance Standards • Expand Access to VA Systems • Modernize the Appeals Process • Continue to improve customer service at National Call Centers • Improve Dependency Claims Processing • Update the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS • Warrior Training Advancement Course (WARTAC) 4

5. Paperless, digital processes allow us to provide Veterans and theirfamilies the most efficient and timely service and benefits

6. Where We’re Going:VBA Priorities 2017 & Beyond DIGITIZATION and AUTOMATION • Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) • National Work Queue • Centralized Intake of Claims Material • Auto-Establishment of Claims • Paper Extraction & Digitization of Inactive Claim Files • Decision Ready Claims EFFICIENCY and SERVICE • Update Performance Standards • Expand Access to VA Systems • Modernize the Appeals Process • Continue to improve customer service at National Call Centers • Improve Dependency Claims Processing • Update the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS • Warrior Training Advancement Course (WARTAC) 6

7. Portals and functionality give Veterans and VSO partners electronic access to VA systems …and the claim gets processed through If you are a… …then use eBenefitsMy Gateway to Benefits Information Upload your own evidence 1 Veteran submitting your own claim SEPStakeholder Enterprise Portal Upload a Veteran’s evidence VSO submitting a claim without a Claims Management System 2 VBMS Veterans Benefits Management System VSO submitting a claim with a Claims Management System Digits to Digits Transfer Veteran evidence 3 Direct Upload Functionality Drag and drop capability VSO with access to the Centralized Mail Portal 4 7

8. Issue: The current appeal process, which is set in law, is broken and providing Veterans a frustrating experience  The process takes too long, too complex and contains multiple redundant steps, delaying final resolution for Veterans Jurisdiction is split between the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) and VA’s three administrations In FY2016, Veterans waited on average 3 years for resolution of their appeal; and for those that reached the Board for a decision, Veterans waited 6 years on average The number of Veterans awaiting a resolution of their appeal is projected to increase by 44% between 2016 and 2026, from 464K to nearly 667K Appeals Modernization Efforts: VA has taken steps to modernize the process and improve efficiencies VBA has streamlined resources, with the establishment of the Appeals Management Office in 2017 to facilitate consistent benefit delivery and higher customer satisfaction The Board adopted a Centralized Mail System in 2016 and is working to replace its outdated legacy appeals processing system Despite internal appeals modernization efforts, under current law with no significant change in resources, the pending appeals inventory will continue to increase far beyond VA’s processing capacity Modernizing the Appeals Process 8

9. The Fix: New Framework Appeals Process In early 2016, VA worked with VSOs, Congressional staff, and others to design a modern, streamlined appeal process that is timely, transparent, fair, and enhances Veteran rights – rarely can Congress point to such unanimous agreement and cooperation among stakeholders While VA works to gain efficiencies in processing appeals under current law, the system cannot be reformed without additional Congressional action

10. Improving Dependency Claims Processing • Strategy: • Developed a rules-based processing system (RBPS) to automate most dependency claims • Trained national call center staff to process dependency claims at point of call • Today, 1 in 4 Veterans submit dependency requests online and • 65% receive payments in under one day 10

11. Questions? Questions